We would not be considered ‘camping purist’, as we usually try to take as many comforts along
the we can handle. This means we have a selection of gear that includes all kinds of cooking,
heating and lighting. The tents and sleeping bags are well-used, but they remain some of the
best investments that we ever made. What we didn’t expect, was that we would have to rely on
them during a natural disaster.

Every time we return from a camping trip we go through everything to make sure that we
replace anything that we have used. It is a habit that I’m glad we established. When a hurricane
hit and the power was off for an entire week, we were some of the only people that we knew
that were set up to ‘survive’.

Without power, the first thing that you grab are the candles, and we had a lot of large one. We
took stock of the lanterns, flashlights, batteries and most of all water. Having a well, no power
also meant no water, but the bottled water wasn’t enough. Food in the refrigerator had to be
depleted first, so we headed to the store to get water and ice. The store was like a moment of
hysteria as everyone was in line and the shelves were almost empty.

We used our small camping stove for cooking and the sleeping bags on the floor to try keep
cool. The hurricane had knocked tree limbs down everywhere and removing them meant
getting bruised and cut. Thank heavens for the emergency medical kit.

I was also thankful that we had packed those ugly rubber boots. There was minor flooding on
the streets and that brought out a lot of snakes. Most are harmless, but we weren’t taking
any chances.

We went around the neighborhood, checking on some of our older neighbors and sharing some
of our food and candles, making sure that they were safe and uninjured. We trudged up and
down the streets in large rubber boots, carrying plastic bags and our camping knives, which is
a strange site to see in a neighborhood.

Luckily, we were only power for one week, but during that time, we used almost all of camping
gear. I would never have thought that this would happen, but then again, who anticipates it?